


It's By Invitation

by Kivan



Series: From the Fires [16]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, Superman - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: And drinking to deal with real life problems, CADMUS - Freeform, F/M, Family Issues, Gen, Lots of undertones, M/M, There's a party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 14:29:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4964260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kivan/pseuds/Kivan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“Keep me safe,” Kara pleads in a whisper, leaning toward Cassie’s ear, “I don’t belong here.”</i>
  <br/>
  <i>“None of us belong here,” Cassie tells her, smiling still, “That’s why we were invited.”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's By Invitation

When Diana arrived at Cassie’s apartment the weekend before, the younger woman hadn’t expected the bottle of wine or the olive branch the woman held out to her.

“Clark deals with these things better than I do,” Diana told her, sighing heavily, “But he thinks it’s important that we go to the Gala. And if I don’t, he’ll give me _that look_.”

Cassie had long ago stopped trying to understand the relationship between her hapless mentor and the two other men.

“Bruce has formally invited the Teen Titans as well,” Diana adds after a long gulp of the thick wine.

“Damian said he would,” Cassie agrees, “Tim’s been in Gotham all week helping prepare for it.”

Diana had nodded and changed the subject. Cassie had let her, because there had only been a few times in her life that Diana had willingly come to her. And a few hours later, when Donna had appeared at her door looking for the older woman, Cassie had reveled in the fact that it was the first time both of them had been in her apartment together.

Arriving at the Gala the following weekend, felt like almost as much of a victory.

Much of the outskirts of Gotham were still in ruins, but were not quartered off with construction fences and ‘Danger Ahead’ signs. It had almost been a year, but Gotham was still coming back. After all, the first three months of the renovations had been fully focused on expanding and improving Arkham.

But standing on the top steps of the new shiny ballroom of the Wayne building, Cassie would admit she downed two glasses of Champaign before she started into the mass. Before she made it to the bottom of the stairs even, Kara had appeared at her elbow and had tucked Cassie’s arm around her own, her own glass in her free hand.

Cassie matches the other woman’s smile as they descend the stairs.

“Keep me safe,” Kara pleads in a whisper, leaning toward Cassie’s ear, “I don’t belong here.”

“None of us belong here,” Cassie tells her, smiling still, “That’s why we were invited.”

Kara shakes her head, tipping her glass back again. “Kon probably won’t show,” she says, “And Clark will be pissed. And then I’ll have to pick up after both of them again.”

“Diana turned up at my apartment with a wine bottle when she got her invite,” Cassie confides. Kara shakes her head.

“The bats being locked in this city for a year destroyed a lot more than Gotham,” Kara sighs.

A tight pull in her chest tells Cassie she agrees.

“Ladies,” a voice beckons them from behind and Kara turns both of them fully into Tim’s bright grin. Cassie had almost forgot how charming he could grin without his domino to cover the glacial blue of his eyes. Kara grins back at him like a shark, the pale lipstick on her lips doing half of the work. Cassie hopes her smiles in return is half as convincing.

His hands are tucked into the pockets of his slacks, and Cassie wants to know how he got away with a lavender button up and charcoal vest, and looking so comfortable when Diana had made her wear heels. The slinky white dress Kara has on shines sequined lights back onto his pants as she switches her now empty glass for one of ones Tim is handing them quickly and Cassie takes the other easily.

“Thanks for coming,” Tim says, grinning a little softer as Kara downs her glass again and Cassie takes a sip.

“Damian gave me a heads up when he was at the tower last,” Cassie confesses and Tim continues to grin.

“He told me.”

Kara chuckles. “So weird that the brat grew up into a decent human.”

Cassis takes another long sip from her glass. Tim just keeps smirking, and it almost looks out of place on his face when his hair is styled and his eyes are on display. And as if beckoned by their conversation, Damian appears suddenly at Tim’s side- and in the same motion literally shoves a charcoal suit jacket at Tim’s chest.

“Before Dana had a _fit_ ,” Damian tells him.

Kara’s eyes narrow in on them when Tim smirks a bit sharper and takes the jacket from Damian, shrugging it on like he’s used to dressing himself so crisply in the middle of high class people, checking and smoothing every edge Cassie knows she would have missed.

Standing next to each other, out of uniform, Cassie almost gapes, because every member of the Wayne family is far too beautiful. Damian’s hair is shorter than she remembers, the sides trim and short, while the top of his head is artfully swept to one side, just a few pieces hanging over his forehead, his eyes just as sharp as Tim’s, and the cheekbones Cassie knows he got from his mother so much a revelation that she stutters.

“Don’t you have a speech to prepare for,” Tim teases the younger man, and Damian glowers at him.

“You mean the speech _you wrote_ ,” Damian teases, the corners of his mouth curling even as he snatches another two flutes of champagne off a passing tray, handing one off to Tim easily. Tim grins into it, but doesn’t respond as Damian downs the entire glass in one gulp.

“Where’s Mar’i,” Tim asks instead.

“Todd stole her.”

Kara snorts, “He stole a child.”

Damian nods once, “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Just the first time it was one he was a partial guardian of,” Tim adds fluidly, like he’d known exactly what Damian was going to say. Cassie wonders if they realize how close they’re standing to each other. Then she wonders if Kara realizes it.

After only another moment, another tall dark-haired man, with glacial blue eyes slides up on Tim’s other side, a shorter glass of darker liquid in the bottom in his hand. His suit jacket is more haphazard than Tim’s and he’s slouching in a way that tells Cassie he’s not used to parties or having to wear dress shoes.

“This music is _shit_ ,” he says and Cassie recognizes his voice instantly, “These clothes are _shit_. And my _hair_ is cramping.” Tim snorts while Damian rolls his eyes.

“But let me guess, the bourbon is on point,” Tim chuckles.

With a grin, the young man takes another sip. “You are correct,” he says.

“Blame your wife for all of those things,” Tim tells him with a grin.

“She does pick a killer bourbon,” the newest Robin replies, with a large open smile.

“Kara Kent,” Damian says suddenly, “Cassandra Sandsmark, this is Terry.”

He extends a hand to Kara first and she takes it softly, immune to his grin apparently. Cassie smiles back when he shakes her hand.

“Terry Wayne, formally McGinnis,” he adds, smiles sliding to one side in a smirk close to Damian’s.

Kara’s arm that is still through Cassie’s stiffens slightly. “Right,” she says, with a bit of surprise. “I remember reading your file.”

Terry flinches only slightly. Tim’s eyes avert and Damian takes a slow breath. “ _Kent_ ,” Terry says slowly, “Supergirl, then.” Kara shrugs, dragging Cassie’s arm along. “You’re help was appreciated then, I think.”

“I didn’t do much,” she says, grinning in a way that says, _actually, she did a lot_.

Terry continues to smile anyway, “Either way.”

Cassie only has a moment to think that he had the Wayne tact to talk about something _without actually talking about it_.

And then Dick appears, Mar’i a small bundle of purple frills on his hip, while he looks at Damian. “Dana is looking for you.” With his normal eye roll, Damian turns quickly to Tim to place a light peck on his temple and a quick whisper in Arabic before with a tight smile leaving the group. Kara's eyes narrow at the display, but she doesn't say anything.

“You’ll be fine,” Tim calls after him, taking another sip from his flute.

Terry laughs into his bourbon. “Troupe of ninja, he’s _kosher_. Public speaking, he’s all nerves and curses.”

Tim hums in agreement, “It gets worse with age, honestly.”

“Expectations and all,” Dick adds, before turning to Cassie and Kara. Kara instantly is grinning like a fool and reached for Mar’i, the small jewel eyed girl giggles at her and lets Kara take her from her father. “It’ good to see you two,” Dick laughs at them, as Kara bounces the small girl in her hands and twirling with her.

“I always forget she’s good with kids,” Cassie laughs and Dick grins at her.

“The roughest among us are, generally,” Dick says.

“Where’d Jason run off to,” Tim asks him and Dick shrugs.

“He got caught by Roy, so they’re probably dicking around at the bar."

“That’s my cue,” Terry says suddenly and lifting his glass turns toward where the bar sits along the west side of the room.


End file.
